Matt Blackett's Faves

If Jason Becker thinks you can burn, you can freaking burn, and that’s what PJ d’Atri does on this record. JB rightly compared him to John Sykes and Randy Rhoads, and d’Atri’s playing on these 11 tracks will show why. He gets great glam-shred tones, plays precise and intricate rhythms, and cranks out soaring solos. His chops are impressive, but my favorite parts of d’Atri’s style are his monster bends and great vibrato. BleedingStar.

Joe Walsh Analog Man

The tones are diverse, the bends are ridiculously perfect, the rhythm grooves are right in the pocket, and the slide work is evocatively slinky. Sure, the lyrics are kind of goofy, but this is, after all, a Joe Walsh album. The gorgeously produced guitars are sometimes massive, sometimes skinny, but at all times rocking, and show why Walsh is the ultimate sideman, a killer (if somewhat unlikely) frontman, and a full-on legend. Fantasy.

Marco Cappelli’s Italian Surf Academy

The American Dream

This record is a super-cool mashup of surf-music ’verb, spaghetti western twang, and a bunch of other bitchin’ guitar-y things. You get awesome dissonance in “Cinque Bambole,” spacey psycho-fuzz in “Django,” dreamy minimalism in “Blood and Black Lace,” and acid-infused, ring-modulated backwards weirdness in “Driving Decoy.” Oh yeah, you also get the greatest album cover since Sgt. Pepper’s. This record is definitely spinning at my next party. Mode Avant.